Catholic Schools Week event at Our Lady of Victory School recreates pilgrimage sites in classrooms
Isabella Montero and Emma Dierlam, eighth graders at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington, D.C., lead a group of students in the parish church as they pray the rosary, as part of the Pilgrimage of Hope event there during Catholic Schools Week on Jan. 31, 2025. The school event was held in conjunction with the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church, which has “Pilgrims of Hope” as its theme. (Catholic Standard photo by Mihoko Owada)
In an inventive mash-up of Catholic Schools Week and the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope declared by Pope Francis, Our Lady of Victory School in Northwest Washington turned its classrooms into makeshift Catholic pilgrimage sites throughout the world for a special Catholic Schools Week event on Jan. 31.
Classrooms were transformed into miniature versions of Lourdes, France; Fatima, Portugal; Knock, Ireland; and even Rome – 10 in all – so the student body could experience and better understand devotional practices in the Catholic Church.
William McLaughlin, an eighth grader at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington, D.C., leads a group of students in the parish church as they pray the Litany of the Saints as part of the Pilgrimage of Hope event there during Catholic Schools Week on Jan. 31, 2025. The school event was held in conjunction with the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church, which has “Pilgrims of Hope” as its theme. While in the church, students also learned the Pilgrims of Hope hymn for the Jubilee Year. (Catholic Standard photo by Mihoko Owada)
After an opening assembly in the parish church, the Our Lady of Victory event allowed its students to spend about 15 minutes in each classroom outfitted for a pilgrimage, reciting prayers frequently used at the respective sites.
During the Pilgrimage of Hope event at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington on Jan. 31, 2025, eighth grader Noel Yilkal at left, leads a group of student pilgrims going from one pilgrimage site to another, including fourth grader Pax Macahig at right. The Catholic Schools Week event at Our Lady of Victory School was held in conjunction with the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church, which has “Pilgrims of Hope” as its theme. (Catholic Standard photo by Mihoko Owada)
In the Fatima classroom, students walked on their knees to a replica of the Marian shrine in the Portuguese town. In the Lourdes classroom, students took part in (battery-operated) candlelight processions while singing the “Lourdes song” that’s sung near the real Lourdes’ healing waters. To get a sense of the Camino that has Santiago de Compostela, Spain, as its endpoint, students painted shells.
During the Pilgrimage of Hope event at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington on Jan. 31, 2025, students in the second grade classroom learned about Our Lady of Lourdes and the tradition of pilgrims participating in a torchlight process while singing Ave Maria. Students moved around the room in a procession, praying the Ave Maria. From left to right, students holding candles are George Miller, a fourth grader; Matthew Lajara, an eighth grader; Thomas Westoff, a seventh grader; Owen Crump, a seventh grader; Blix Rogers, a third grader; and Josie Nevins, a first grader. The Catholic Schools Week event at Our Lady of Victory School was held in conjunction with the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church, which has “Pilgrims of Hope” as its theme. (Catholic Standard photo by Mihoko Owada)
Genevieve Fallon, a second grader at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington, prays before a statue of Mary during the school’s Pilgrimage of Hope event on Jan. 31, 2025 that was held in conjunction with the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church, which has “Pilgrims of Hope” as its theme. Our Lady of Victory students made pilgrimages to different classrooms. In the fifth grade classroom, students learned about Mary appearing to children in Fatima and giving them special messages to tell the Holy Father. Students prayed by following the tradition of pilgrims to Fatima to ‘walk’ on their knees and pray as an act of penance and devotion to Mary. (Catholic Standard photo by Mihoko Owada)
Sheila Martinez, Our Lady of Victory School’s longtime principal, said that since the Jubilee Year and Catholic Schools Week were being celebrated concurrently, “we thought, ‘Why not be pilgrims of hope?’”
Jenna Drummond, a middle school religion and social studies teacher there who organized much of the event, said she was struck by what Pope St. John Paul II had once said about “how the young people are the future.” If that’s the case, she reasoned, then “why not bring the Jubilee Year to them?”
During the Pilgrimage of Hope event at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington on Jan. 31, 2025, students made banners to carry on their journeys to classroom pilgrimage sites. The students holding the poster in the front row from left to right are Sonia Richa, a seventh grader; Chantal Fallon, a kindergarten student; and Floriana Yilkal, a sixth grader. Behind them from left to right are Matthew Dickerson, a seventh grader; Christian Hom, an eighth grader; and Juliette Duval, a sixth grader. The Catholic Schools Week event at Our Lady of Victory School was held in conjunction with the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church, which has “Pilgrims of Hope” as its theme. (Catholic Standard photo by Mihoko Owada)
During the Pilgrimage of Hope event at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington on Jan. 31, 2025, third grader Noah Abate and fellow students made banners to carry on their pilgrimages to different classrooms. (Catholic Standard photo by Mihoko Owada)
Throughout the school, students had copies of the Jubilee Prayer to mark the papal proclamation of the jubilee. The prayer, also found in abundance at the parish church, says in part, “May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the Earth.”
During the Pilgrimage of Hope event at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington on Jan. 31, 2025, seventh grader Lucia Carbajal and sixth grader Mariah Byrd color a picture of Our Lady of Fatima during a pilgrimage to the fifth grade classroom. The Catholic Schools Week event at Our Lady of Victory School was held in conjunction with the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church, which has “Pilgrims of Hope” as its theme. (Catholic Standard photo by Mihoko Owada)
Not every classroom had a miniature replica of a famous shrine. For the Assisi room, for instance, students prepared layettes and packed diapers to donate to the Christ Child Society in Washington. In Drummond’s classroom, which represented Rome, students decorated their own “holy door” similar to the one Pope Francis himself had opened at St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve to launch the Jubilee of Hope.
Eighth graders at Our Lady of Victory School, which offers a Catholic education to children as young as 3 years of age, helped teachers in each room distribute supplies and check in with students and other tasks, while the school’s sixth and seventh graders partnered with classrooms from kindergarten through second grade to make sure they were taking part in all the activities.
Seventh grader Elena Ramos-Izquierdo was among students at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington who participated in the school’s Pilgrimage of Hope event at the school on Jan. 31, 2025. The Catholic Schools Week event at Our Lady of Victory School was held in conjunction with the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church, which has “Pilgrims of Hope” as its theme. (Catholic Standard photo by Mihoko Owada)
Seventh grader Elena Ramos-Izquierdo said she enjoyed the experience. “It’s a different way to learn about the church,” she said.
The pilgrimage capped a Catholic Schools Week celebration at Our Lady of Victory during which students could trade in their typical uniform clothing for pajamas on Monday, school gear on Tuesday, outfits relating to their favorite state on Wednesday, students’ favorite character on Thursday, and “monochromatic day” for shirts and slacks on Friday.
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